International versus Immigrant ESL Students: Designing Curriculum and Programs To Meet the Needs of Both.

Brickman, Bette; Nuzzo, Richard

A discussion of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction for non-native speakers in higher education distinguishes the needs of immigrants who are residents from those of foreign students with temporary student visas, and looks at how those needs affect the design of classes and programs to serve them. Data are drawn from experience with one community college ESL program and from the literature. Several categories of characteristics of the two groups are examined: attitude and motivation (attitudes about leaving the homeland, nature of language needs, degree of acculturation or integration); educational traditions and learning styles (learning environments, level of conversational skills, level of community involvement, students' learning styles); and additional considerations emerging in the literature (degree of individual student participation in class activities, nature of English spoken on arrival, comprehension and academic skills, nature and amount of background knowledge brought to the classroom). Changes made in one community college program, based on this information, are noted. (Contains 25 references.) (MSE)